Depression is mental disorder characterized by impaired overall functioning as well as diminished cognitive performance. Its cause is associated with an imbalance of neurotransmitter functioning in...Show moreDepression is mental disorder characterized by impaired overall functioning as well as diminished cognitive performance. Its cause is associated with an imbalance of neurotransmitter functioning in affected individuals. Recent studies have demonstrated the ability of L-tyrosine, a natural amino-acid and precursor of the neurotransmitter dopamine, to increase dopamine levels within the brain and subsequently benefit different cognitive functions. Additionally, another field of research has repeatedly shown that exposure to novel stimuli can enhance memory performance in both animals and humans. In our study we investigated whether the intake of tyrosine (administered in a double-blind, betweensubjects design) enhances recall and recognition performance following the exposure to an either novel or familiar virtual reality environment (within-subjects design) in healthy participants. We expected tyrosine and the novelty exposure to result in improved cognitive performance. Furthermore, we hypothesized tyrosine to even out the assumed negative impact of increasing severity of depressive symptoms on the recall and recognition scores. Our sample consisted of 30 individuals aged 18 to 30. The study involved a total of five sessions including three laboratory and two online sessions. The first session included the familiarization to the VR environment as well as the assessment of current depressive symptoms with the patient health questionnaire. The other two laboratory sessions entailed the treatment administration, VR environment exploration as well as immediate memory assessments, while the online sessions consisted of delayed memory assessments. To examine the effects of treatment, novelty, and depressive symptoms on memory performance, our data was analysed with repeated measures analyses of variance. Contrary to our expectations we did not find significant effects of novelty or the tyrosine supplement on recall or recognition scores. While heightened symptoms of depression negatively impacted the cognitive performance in our sample, tyrosine did not have a mitigating effect on the different severity of symptoms. Future research is advised to explore methodological adjustments by making use of more immersive VR methods, alternative dosages of tyrosine, and include clinical samples to better understand these factors' potential impact on memory.Show less
Background: Many patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) suffer from self-stigma. Self-stigma can lead to a decrease in recovery speed and treatment adherence. Psychoeducation for depression...Show moreBackground: Many patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) suffer from self-stigma. Self-stigma can lead to a decrease in recovery speed and treatment adherence. Psychoeducation for depression has shown to be effective in improving treatment adherence and self-stigma. In recent years, researchers investigated Virtual reality (VR) as a potential tool in the treatment of depression. Studies have shown that VR interventions can reduce, among other things, self-stigma and depressive symptoms. We investigated the impact of a VR experience combined with psychoeducation compared to traditional, non-VR psychoeducation on self-stigma and depressive symptoms in individuals with MDD. We expected the VR intervention to have a more positive effect in reducing self-stigma and depressive symptoms than non-VR. Methods: The 31 recruited participants, aged 18-65 years old, were randomized into two groups: VR and non-VR. Two 360-degree VR videos were developed to experience a day in the life of a patient with depression. Self-stigma and depressive symptoms were measured before intervention (T0), directly after intervention (T1, only self-stigma), after 1 week (T2), and a follow-up after 10 weeks (T3). A repeated measures ANOVA was used for comparing the treatment groups. Results: Contrary to the hypothesis, the repeated measures ANOVA results indicated no significant interaction effect between time and treatment group for self-stigma (p = .393). In terms of depressive symptoms, a repeated measures ANOVA revealed a significant interaction effect between time and treatment group (p = .027), with a medium effect size (η2 = .095). Post hoc testing using Bonferroni showed that non-VR significantly decreased depressive symptoms across different time points compared to VR. Additionally, post hoc testing revealed that self-stigma and depressive symptoms may be positively correlated. Conclusion: No significant difference was found between the two treatment conditions in terms of decreasing self-stigma. However, the non-VR condition demonstrated a significant decrease in depressive symptoms compared to the VR condition. Additionally, positive correlations were observed between self-stigma and depressive symptoms, which emphasize the value of incorporating psychoeducation into treatment plans for people with MDD.Show less
Research master thesis | Psychology (research) (MSc)
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Communication involves understanding the difference between our own perspective (visual perspective, beliefs, and knowledge) and that of an addressee. Previous research found that knowledge about a...Show moreCommunication involves understanding the difference between our own perspective (visual perspective, beliefs, and knowledge) and that of an addressee. Previous research found that knowledge about a speaker’s background (e.g., stereotypes, accent, etc.) affects online language processing in listeners. However, the role and automaticity of Theory of Mind (ToM) – the ability to attribute beliefs to someone - remains unclear. Typically, we expect individuals to speak according to their beliefs and perspectives. But what if their utterances mismatch with what we expect them to know? We designed a novel perspective-taking paradigm in a virtual environment, which manipulates an agent’s belief. We then recorded electroencephalographical data from participants, while they listened to the agent making statements either matching or mismatching their false or true beliefs. Specifically, we analyzed the N400: a component, which amplitude scales with the unexpectedness of a content word. We predicted that statements mismatching an agent’s true belief (e.g., seeing a car and saying “That’s a screwdriver”) would result in larger N400 components, compared to statements matching the true beliefs. We found strong evidence for this prediction. Further, we predicted that knowledge of an agent’s unawareness that the state of affairs has changed (i.e., a false belief) is considered when interpreting their statements. We found indirect evidence for this: statements matching their false beliefs do not elicit an N400. However, statements mismatching their false beliefs (e.g., agent says something they couldn’t have known) neither are marked by the N400. Results support ToM’s role in interpreting language.Show less
Police officers need hard skills and soft skill during their work. Adequate soft skills are essential for a police officer because they use them during most of their time working, they can prevent...Show morePolice officers need hard skills and soft skill during their work. Adequate soft skills are essential for a police officer because they use them during most of their time working, they can prevent unnecessary use of force and they influence the public perception of police quality. Feedback is less objective for soft skills training and real interactions are too complex to simulate in a classroom. Virtual Reality (VR) soft skills training might be able to create a more realistic training environment. The first part of the study used a survey to research police officers’ feeling of preparedness for different incidents. It was expected that police officers feel more prepared for incidents requiring hard skills compared to incidents requiring soft skills. In the second part of the study, participants tried out two VR empathy simulations and answered questionnaires about their experience. It was expected that the simulations were able to induce empathy towards the protagonist in police officers. It was also expected that self-reported presence predicts how police officers rate the effectivity of the training. Although results show that participants indicated to feel more prepared for incidents requiring hard skills, participants mostly mentioned that soft skills should be better prepared. This contradiction is possibly caused by a relationship between the work experience of the participants and their feeling of preparedness. The VR simulations were unable to induce empathy and no relationship was found between self-reported presence and the effectivity of the training. Future research should investigate the feeling of preparedness of recently graduated police officers. More research is needed into the effectiveness of VR empathy training. Learning more about police officers’ feeling of preparedness and the effectivity of VR contributes to the soft skill adequacy of police officers and possibly other professional fields.Show less
This thesis aims to investigate the added value of digital reconstruction technology in archaeological museums. Recent wars and conflict zones have made the world aware again of the vulnerability...Show moreThis thesis aims to investigate the added value of digital reconstruction technology in archaeological museums. Recent wars and conflict zones have made the world aware again of the vulnerability of the archaeological record. Therefore, the reproduction and reconstruction of archaeological material become more relevant to archaeological museums. New cutting edge techniques make museums able to perform admirable results for the communication about the content of the exhibition, the objects themselves and the museum. However, these technologies, methods and devices have both advantages and disadvantages. What defines them to be of added value to the archaeological museum? The following research question has been composed for this study: How can digital reconstruction techniques and devices be of added value to the transfer of the meaning and content of archaeological objects in archaeological museums? This research question is divided into several subquestions and answered in the three chapters this study contains. The first chapter will discuss the definition and history of reconstruction in archaeological museums, the second includes the first case study (Nineveh - The Great City ) and the third chapter includes the second case study ( Etruscans. Eminent Woman, Powerful Men). The study is set up as an inductive research because no applicable theories about added value were found in this field of research. The study will analyse academic literature, reviews, official documents published by the museums, interviews and questionnaires. It can be concluded that the digital reconstruction of the Cerveteri Tomb and the digital devices in the Nineveh exhibition were of added value in three ways: to the archaeological museum and archaeological research, the archaeological material and the visitors of archaeological museums. During the process of conducting this study, critical notes and limitations appeared. Important critical notes were the undefined expectations between the technicians and the museum professionals and the difficulties with communicating about the complex framework of questions and choices behind a reconstruction. The visitor only observes the end product of the digital technology but is not part of the process behind it, while this might be valuable to understand. Moreover, no clear answers can yet be made about if the increase in the amount of digital technology is of added value per se. There is still a long way to go to answer and solve all the questions, problems and limitations that are indirectly connected to digital technology in museums. Questions that should be answered by both museums and visitors. It is identified that authenticity is a key concept that is examined as the backbone of many issues, and it should, therefore, be better understood to analyze, interpret and initiate new future projects.Show less
Over the recent years Japanese animation has seen the rise of a new form of the science fiction genre, namely technoludic anime, or anime that involves video game elements. Commentative technoludic...Show moreOver the recent years Japanese animation has seen the rise of a new form of the science fiction genre, namely technoludic anime, or anime that involves video game elements. Commentative technoludic anime, the main focus of this research, are part of a critical discourse on techno- culture and its future. This genre of anime taps into themes such as gender identity, nationalism, societies of control and the disintegration of ontological boundaries while using video game portrayal and video game play as the main focus of their narrative. It also either tends to smear or beautify video games through technophobic or technophilic themes which are supported by binary opposition such as lived experience and fantasy, and the real and the virtual. Considering the popularity of video games, it is no surprise that commentative technoludic anime have not only gained recognition in "digitally native" Japan, but also resonate with viewers on a global scale. Kawahara Reki's Sword Art Online has gained massive attention and can be seen as one of the icons of this commentative technoludic anime genre. Through its technophilic-tinted themes the series stimulates philosophical thinking by proposing a different understanding of virtual worlds and ontological boundaries. Throughout its story a young otaku recluse heightens the intensity of his life by moving into a new virtual exterior, finding its beauty along the way. The story's proposition, one that accentuates the merits, beauty, and realness of the virtual, is strengthened through the addition of life-like AI characters, exciting adventure, a beautiful environment and most surprisingly, death. Furthermore, even though Sword Art Online represents its virtual world as a video game, its world lacks the characteristics of play, showing that the virtual world Sword Art Online revolves around isultimately, not really a video game, but a sensational replacement for life in the real world.Show less
The relationship between archaeological heritage and the general public has been a recurrent theme in the archaeological discipline, were an increasing reliance on revenue streams in heritage...Show moreThe relationship between archaeological heritage and the general public has been a recurrent theme in the archaeological discipline, were an increasing reliance on revenue streams in heritage settings leaves archaeologists to wonder how to present archaeology in an accessible, visual, and imaginative manner to the public. The complexities of several visualisation media are discussed in a heritage setting: illustrations, scale models, theme parks and museums and digital media (3D models, serious gaming and Virtual Reality). It is found that the authenticity and interactivity are recurrent themes in archaeological visualisation. The first proves to be rather negotiable, and the latter has proven itself to be a powerful way to capture the attention of the audience. Finally, it is concluded that archaeology has a lot to gain from visualisation for the public, and although archaeologists and other heritage professionals focus mostly on 3D models and Virtual Reality, it would seem this is also true for the more traditional types of visualisation. This reminds us that all forms of visualisation are merely tools available to the archaeologist and heritage experts to select as needed and solve a particular heritage visualisation problem.Show less
